April 30th: Mikado Milk Chocolate

Kcal 11 Fat 0.5g Fat(sats) 0.3g Carbs 1.5g (per 2.3g biscuit)

During the past week I have received over twenty requests for me to review this product so I have jumped it right to the front of the review queue. Over the past few weeks I have been lucky enough to try some of Glico's Pocky range from Japan and was surprised to find that Glico had released a product right on my very own doorstep in collaboration with Kraft Foods. These Mikado have actually been in my local Tesco for a good few months, though it was only recently that Kraft rolled out their promotional material in form of a rather hilarious advert (See HERE). Mikado is a pretty simple product and constitutes of 'thin biscuit sticks coated in milk chocolate', today I decided to see what all the fuss was about. 

I am aware that the bigger Mikado packs are actually available for 59p in Tescos at the moment, however when I got there they were all sold out and had to settle for a more expensive 39.0g pack from my local Co-Op. I immediately liked the clear and friendly aesthetics of the packaging and liked the way the central red circle and white background grounded the product in its Japanese heritage. Inside the box the sticks were kept within a foil package that not only seemed to maintain the sticks in fabulous condition, but also made sure that the sweet biscuity scents smelt exceedingly fresh and tempting.

The first thing I noticed about the sticks was that the milk chocolate actually looked a lot thicker that I thought it would be. As well as looking more tempting it also tasted a whole lot better than I expected and really delivered some fine creamy, cocoa flavours with its wonderfully smooth taste. The chocolate was not only stronger in flavour than I expected but also had a very pleasant thick silky feel as it melted from the biscuit. The chocolate was not the only element that I was resoundingly pleased with. The biscuit sticks were also surprisingly flavoursome with some honey and butter notes very evident within the dominant sweet wheaty flavours. My only criticism of this product is the fact that it was so ridiculously moreish that the 39.0g pack felt woefully inadequate. Indeed they are low in calories and a good option for those in need of a chocolate hit on a diet, however it is certainly not a snack that provides a great deal of fulfillment.

Overall I would say that Glico have produced a fabulous product here and it is little surprise that the Mikado brand is causing such a buzz. The product delivers a wonderful chocolate and biscuit combination with its own incredibly moreish nature providing its only real negative. If you have been unsure on whether to invest in some Pocky from Japan then I would recommend these as a good basis to judge whether the brand is for you. As you can probably ascertain from this review this was a product that I very much enjoyed and will definitely be buying again in the near future. If chocolate biscuits are your thing then there are no excuses for you not to try these.

8.3 out of 10